Rangel’s Chairmanship Hangs in the Balance

Five days after he was admonished by the Ethics Committee for two corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean, ABC News and NBC News are reporting that New York Democrat Charlie Rangel will “temporarily” give up the gavel of the Ways and Means Committee. Rangel tonight denied the reports, telling reporters on Capitol Hill that he remains chairman, though when asked if he would continue on the 79-year-old said, “I can’t make all those promises at my age.” His spokesman Matthew Beck when asked about the reports responded in an e-mail, “Nothing tonight.”

Republicans have grasped Rangel’s ethical problems as evidence that Pelosi has not fulfilled her promise to “clean out the swamp.” Rep. John Carter, a Texas Republican, Tuesday introduced a privileged resolution which would strip Rangel of his chairmanship. Democrats, it seems, could beat him to it.